Historically Black institutions in Nashville could see a windfall of federal funding, depending on the fate of a spending package that passed the House. Among those that stand to receive money are American Baptist College, Meharry Medical College and a land bridge project over Jefferson Street that’s still seeking community buy-in.
Congressman Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, announced the nearly $4.8 million, which is included in the $1.5 trillion omnibus package moving through Congress. They’re part of the Community Project Funding program, specific requests from lawmakers’ jurisdictions. A release from last summer, when Cooper originally requested the funding, says this is the first time members of Congress have been able to submit these types of requests in more than a decade.
Jefferson Street Cap
If passed in the Senate, $3 million of the money would help fund work on the Jefferson Street Cap and Connector, which is intended to reconnect North Nashville where it was separated by construction of I-40 in the 1960s. North Nashville residents sued the state back then to prevent interstate construction through the community, but they were unsuccessful.
Now Nashville Mayor John Cooper, the congressman’s brother, is pursuing the project, which it says will help repair the damage done to the community. But there are still unresolved concerns from community members about how the final project will work.
The local Racial Justice Resource Group says it’s worried the multimillion dollar project would mostly benefit developers and white-owned contractors. They’ve called on Mayor Cooper’s office to expand the project beyond physical infrastructure and invest in the people of the area.
“The way they’ve got it to where it’s just another brick-and-mortar, concrete, steel project will not atone for the wrongs of the past,” says organizer Ronnie Mitchell, “because the people that were negatively impacted and affected will not be the ones benefiting from this cap.”
The group advocates for including extra money in the project that supports human capital in the historically Black neighborhood. They propose offering more affordable housing and downpayment assistance, as well as encouraging Black contractors to perform work on the project.
The mayor’s office held community meetings in the fall regarding the project. A spokesman for the mayor said members of his office currently “do not have an update” on next steps.
Funding for local HBCUs
Additional money in the federal would go toward restoring buildings at American Baptist College, in partnership with the Metro Historical Commission. Many activists during the Civil Rights Era studied at the institution, including the late Rep. John Lewis. The money would also help create a civil rights walking tour on campus.
Another piece of the funding would help Meharry Medical College purchase a supercomputer cluster. A release says that will aid student and faculty research on genomics in their new School of Applied Computational Sciences.
Rep. Cooper says the projects are vital to making Nashville more inclusive and helping its continued growth. He says he expects the Senate to pass funding for the projects.
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